Option B: You could put Gonzalez right into the lineup at first and put Bellinger in left every day, giving Gonzalez ample opportunity to show if he is 100% again.

New York Times -

At This Point, the Prospects Should Be the Must-See Mets

The Mets shuffled off for a long weekend late Wednesday afternoon, bound for a four-game visit to the Philadelphia Phillies, the only team behind them in the National League East.

Montero was not much more than a depth option this season, but the Mets counted on Matt Harvey, Steven Matz, Zack Wheeler and Robert Gsellman. It is too easy to say that the Mets fell apart because their pitchers were hurt.

He’s not relaxed like Aaron Rodgers, but Kirk Cousins has found his comfort zone

For the past two years, Washington Redskins quarterback Kirk Cousins has not only served the most important role on the team, but he’s had to prove that he’s a legitimate starting quarterback in the process.

He’s like Aaron Rodgers out there — just chill like he knows what’s going to happen next,’ ” said Cousins when asked about the last time he’s felt this relaxed going into a season. “I certainly don’t want the narrative to become that, ‘Kirk’s so relaxed, he’s got this.

The Guardian -

Weapons and drugs not welcome: how pushy parents ruined US youth sports

The first widely-documented account of parental violence at a children’s sports game in the US came in a 1975 Sports Illustrated article.

“I’ve been guilty of sitting on the grass next to my child’s seemingly endless softball game, reading the entire New Yorker because, even after several years, what was going on on that softball field remained utterly inscrutable to me,” says Anya Ulinich, an author whose daughters play softball and Ultimate Frisbee.

#NoKaepernickNoNFL calls for an NFL boycott if Kaepernick doesn't play

A new petition from Change.org, #NoKaepernickNoNFL, asks fans to boycott the NFL if Colin Kaepernick doesn’t play this season.

Once the petition hits 100,000 signatures it will be delivered to NFL commissioner Roger Goddell and all 32 NFL team owners. Kaepernick’s NFL career has been under the scope ever since he took a knee during the national anthem in a 2016 preseason game.

The Guardian -

The window on Colin Kaepernick's NFL career may well be slamming shut

So, it seems, the window on Colin Kaepernick’s career may be slamming shut: if it doesn’t happen now, in training camp before the pre-season games start, the chances he gets back into the league become increasingly unlikely.

A city as polarized as Baltimore, where last year the Department of Justice found a shocking system of racial profiling and abuse by police, could use a player who raises the questions Colin Kaepernick has presented over the last year.

Tony Allen said Memphis “Grit and Grind” started as insult to Rudy Gay

Allen took part in the Basketball Hall of Fame’s “60 Days of Summer” program last Friday and told the story of how that motto started as Allen’s dig at Rudy Gay back on Feb. 8, 2011, after a game against the Thunder.

It will continue on T-shirts and in the hearts of Grizzlies fans, but with Zach Randolph in Sacramento and Tony Allen unsigned, it’s not the same.

Washington Post -

Melo Trimble is discovering that life in the NBA after Maryland won’t be easy

Now consider everything that’s happened to Trimble over the past few months, since he declared for the NBA draft and ended his college career after his junior season.

“He’ll go to training camp with someone and be an affiliate player,” said another, referring to when teams sign a player to come to training camp with the intention of having them play for their developmental team in the NBA G League. “He’ll probably average 12 [points] and three [assists] and have no chance of [an NBA] call-up, get bought out and play in mid-level Europe.